OK, so I'm writing this post to help a friend identify her Golden Era Reissue Tokai les paul. I'm no Tokai Les Paul expert, in fact I've never even heard of the "Golden Era Reissue" so maybe you can help? I'm providing the following pics, would like to know*:

*(Note, the toggle switch has been removed, the lady in question uses it in a very cool band with a very specialized sort of sound and she never needs the bridge pickup).

approximate vintage??
is the plaintop a solid top or veneer? (why would you veneer a plaintop?)
what type of pickups?
What is the difference between these and a Love Rock or Reborn?
What would be the model name/#? (LS-80? I think not... but what would it be?)
Are these well regarded, is there any more info I/she should know?

Turners are not original,and that logo is not a real one to me.
That 80 carved number is way TOO SMALL too to be real one.
Pickups on LS80 are '57 PAF Gotoh covered,so they are not original (or someone took off the cover....).

interesting. She says it's an awesome guitar. There is really no reason to doubt the authenticity and the logo sure looks original in the pic *to me* except for the fact that i've never seen one like it before. Does anyone second Luis' motion about the number stamp being too small?

I think she found this thing in a pawn shop or music store... not an ebay deal. Got it for a really cheap price (couple hundred $US I think)

keep the theories and info coming... i'm gonna look up the specs of the LS-80

when did the change from Les Paul to Love Rock happen? Does anyone know of any transitional models in between the two names after they were forbidden to use Les Paul but before they settled on Love Rock...? hmm....

Also, that pic that OrvilleOwner put up seems weird and transitional... never seen that headstock shape before. This is getting more and more interesting to me by the moment.

I think they were made between 1985 and 1986, possibly also 1987. There were different combinations of FRP (fiberglass reinforced plastic), carbon fiber and wood bodies/necks. I have a prototype that was made in 1984 (750 series) and a 1985 MAT-451 with a 1986 CM-800 carbon fiber neck (the original neck was bad). I bought the carbon fiber neck in a music store here in Sweden, they had about 10 NOS MAT necks! Nobody knew where they came from. I also bought two FRP necks.

There's a Golden Era Les Paul copy listed in the Registry, in the Tokai Designed section. What does that serial number tell you?

golden era re-issue lp
Wilkinson bridge
Serial Number: 0008992
Fingerboard: Rosewood
Neck: Mahogany - set neck
Country: Japan
Comments: I BOUGHT IT NEW LONG TIME AGO ANY GUESS ON WHAT YEAR IT IS AND HOW MUCH ONE WOOD GO FOR NOW? PLEASE EMAIL ME AT EDATKINS@MSN.COM